Waste

It's September 5 and our weekly grocery average over 35 weeks is $113.37. My daughter and I went to Zambia for a few weeks with our church so that probably lowered it a bit. There was a story on MSN Money called "Can A Family Eat on $100 per Week"? That was a family of four.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/CanAFamilyEatOn100AWeek.aspx

Wake up people. Many Americans are forced to live like this on a regular basis. It's really not that much of a sacrifice.

I wanted to mention waste. Now many may think that this is extreme but I don't think it is. There are three main categories of wasted food. There are leftovers and unfinished food that gets thrown in the trash. There is old food that we let spoil and throw away and there is food that we don't completely clean out of cans and bottles. I've noticed that when I use a can of beans or pineapple that a few pieces cling to the bottom that often is thrown away. Most people also throw away the ends of a loaf of bread. Why? You're paying for them and they are perfectly good to eat. If we are careful about this kind of waste we can probably save more than 5% on out yearly grocery bill!